(SPRINGFIELD, LA) -- As hurricane Helene dumped historic amounts of rain in the mountains of North Carolina, a group of people in Louisiana watched, grateful that it wasn;t their turn for a hurricane. Experienced in the loss and devastation that a hurricane can bring, it is no surprise that when Tab Lobell of the Blood River Church of God, in Springfield, Louisiana heard from his pastor that people needed help, he decided to gather a group to provide assistance. Although major organizations do assist communities in recovery efforts, it is often the work of small groups that fill in the gaps, and provide where others might not be able to locate.
Guthrie Grove Church of South Carolina located in Pelzer, just outside of Greenville, is a sister church to the Blood River congregation. Members of the Guthrie Grover church relayed how Hendersonville, NC needed assistance. Six members of the local Louisiana congregation began to plan how they would assist folks in Hendersonville, NC, including Levi Walters, a native of Pelzer, South Carolina. Josh Patterson volunteered his pastalaya pots, Johnny Zigler, Chuck Mayeaux, Frank White, and Tab Lobell began recruiting volunteers to do necessary prep-work for the trip. Additionally, Lobell’s son-in-law had a classmate at LSU’s Dental School, now located in Burnsville, who said that Burnsville also needed assistance.
Knowing they would need a lot of experienced help to pull this off, Lobell asked an old friend, Baton Rouge native, Michael Arnone, if he could borrow some of his 45-gallon cast iron jambalaya pots that he uses for his annual Crawfish Fest in Augusta, NJ, for this trip. Arnone immediately agreed, and as he learned more about the trip, he felt he wanted to do more than loan the group a few of his jambalaya pots. Arnone’s own home had been damaged by flood waters previously, and was completed ruined by the Great Flood of 2016. When rebuilding, it was Tab Lobell who drove the piles for the new elevated home. The Jambalaya Pots that Arnone uses were cast at the Hardy & Newsome Forge in Lagrange, NC., and although he is not a member of the congregation, it was agreed that he would join the group because of his experience in feeding large crowds.
While Lobell, Patterson, and the congregation began working with volunteers, including members of Boy Scout Troop 172 of Albany/Springfield, LA, to complete necessary prep-work, along with the logistics of where to stay, where they would set-up to provide assistance, Michael and Tab began reaching out to their suppliers to secure donations to help defray costs including Sanderson Farms, S&W Foods, Savoie Foods, French Settlement Sausage, Bobby Lee Distributing, and Leidenheimer Bread, among others.
The group, in collaboration with volunteers from the Guthrie Grove Church of Pelzer, SC, will serve approximately 2400 servings of Jambalaya and Pastalaya over the weekend, distribute heaters, blankets, and toys for children on Saturday, October 19th, beginning at 5pm at the Save More Grocery Store located at 160 Reservoir Rd., and at Autostar, 401 Duncan Hill Rd. in Hendersonville, NC on Sunday, October 20th from 12pm – 8pm, with live Music from the Blue Ridge Rounders. To learn more and help with Blood River Church of God’s efforts related to hurricane relief, visit this link.
When asked why he organized this trip on behalf of the Blood River Church of God, Lobell replied, “We live in south Louisiana, where we have been affected by hurricanes, and floods on numerous occasions. We are often blessed with people coming in to lend a hand, and we would like to be that source of encouragement to others who have experienced the loss and challenges that we have experienced,"
